Barry Diller’s Internet empire expects to increase the staff at its Ask Jeeves search engine by about 20%, Ask Jeeves head Steve Berkowitz says. The expansion comes as Jeeves, which employs 650 workers now, posts solid gains in traffic but remains overshadowed by its more famous and deeper-pocketed rivals. IAC shares are down 10% for the year.

Steve Berkowitz adds that they need to continue to grow and capture market share.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld where Mack explains that this is a “sharp contrast to their UK opperations where they laid off a large proportion of their sales staff.” Think they are letting their UK division go to hell?